http://blogs.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2008/01/dad_gave_steroids_to_12yearold_1.html January 17, 2008 Dad gave steroids to 12-year-old son For those who have asked why the U.S. Congress would be interested in steroids in sports, here is your answer. Fortunately this isn't a tragic story, but believe it, it could have been. Jim Gahan is believed to be the first person convicted of giving steroids to his child. And this was for the sport of in-line skating. This idiot started his 12-year-old kid off with B-12 shots, then started giving him a "heavy-duty regimen" of human growth hormone and synthetic testosterone. According to the Grand Rapids Press, Sports Illustrated writers Luis Fernando Llosa and Jon Wertheim were working on steroids stories and they saw Corey Gahan's name on a sign-in sheet at a fake doctor's office "between the names of Randy Paffo, better known as wrestler 'Macho Man Randy Savage,' and the late Brian Adams, a wrestler known as 'Crush.'" This paragraph from the SI article sickened me: "Almost immediately after the cycle began, the contours of Corey's body changed. But the effects went beyond bigger biceps and calves. Shortly after his 13th birthday in May '02, Corey returned home one afternoon feeling wobbly and paranoid. He vomited multiple times. "I think I crashed on a cycle really hard," he recalls. In the aftermath of this episode, (Phillip) Pavicic (body builder and gym manager hired by the father) took Corey to see John Todd Miller, a Tampa man representing himself as a doctor. According to court documents, Miller ordered blood work on Corey and found that the kid had more than 20 times the normal level of testosterone for an adult male. Nonetheless, the documents show, Miller would later begin providing testosterone to Corey." The SI piece says "other Miller clients included former major league pitcher Anthony Telford, who admitted to investigators that he had purchased testosterone from Miller, and late WWE wrestlers Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero." Within a year, Corey, who was 5-5, 120 pounds when he started using, blew up to 160 pounds and was showing signs of being a dominant skater. "Steroids completely change your mind-set," Corey told SI. "They turn you from being an athlete into a monster. A monster in the everyday world is not a good thing, but when you are trying to win a 1,000-meter race against five of the best guys in the world, monster is a great mind-set to have." "At 15 he was a national champion at 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters. In July '05, Corey, then 16, competed at the U.S. Indoor Speedskating Championships. His time of 2:26.39 in the 1,500 meters shattered the national record in the sophomore men's category by more than two seconds, remarkable given that most speedskating marks are eclipsed by tenths if not hundredths of a second." Corey Gahan started failing drugs tests and was banned from the sport for two years. Pavicic, the trainer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids to a minor and got a six-month sentence. Miller, the fake doctor, got an 18-month sentence. The dad got six years, and though he says he is sorry, many of his quotes make me doubt that. "Am I sorry? Absolutely. One hundred percent. It started out as an innocent thing and blossomed into a nightmare. It wasn't like I was trying to distribute steroids to all the little speedskaters and he and I were making a profit from it. It was just him and me trying to make him the best at what he was doing."
